


Stuck Together (Strange but True)

by Mercy_Rhyne



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, I suppose, Original Creativity makes an appearance, Other, Roman is in a bad place, Sort Of, Sympathetic Deceit | Janus Sanders, The fusion is not great, There's a few small spoilers for Putting Others First, Unsympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Weird stylistic choices, but they're fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24036970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercy_Rhyne/pseuds/Mercy_Rhyne
Summary: Long ago, the two twins had been one. But then they split up into two sides. Roman wants to try again. But if that’s such a great idea…
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Unsympathetic Remus, Roman isn't doing too great at the beginning of this. The fusion is bad but I'm not sure how to tag that

Roman was so sick of everything. He was so sick of being  _ him _ . Lately, it seemed like he couldn’t do anything right. It seemed like no one even wanted to listen to him. Whenever he tried to offer a solution to help Thomas out with a dilemma, it was pushed aside or straight up ignored. And this happened more than once. He tried to trust Dec- Janus? The others called him out for it, told him that he wasn’t to be trusted. And then, the next time the snake-like side showed up, the others — or, Patton, at least — immediately decide to trust him? No questions asked? It was as if they deliberately  _ chose  _ to push Roman aside like that. 

No, he wouldn’t let that happen anymore. He was sick of being ignored like that. He was sick of being Roman Sanders. Something had to be done and if they didn’t want to listen to  _ him _ , maybe they would listen to someone else. 

With very clear reluctance, Roman walked up to Remus’ door on the other side of the mindscape. He really didn’t want to, but he felt like this was the best option to deal with the issues he had without  _ actually  _ dealing with them. A small sacrifice. Or- a big one, really. A huge one, even. But hopefully… it would be worth it.

Taking a deep breath to give himself the courage to deal with his twin, Roman knocked on the door, his eyes closed in anticipation as he waited to be let in. 

“Door’s open,” a voice called from the other side of the door, and Roman cracked open an eye. Okay. Time to go in. All or nothing. 

He opened the door and stepped into Remus’ room; a room that looked very much like his own, except way more…  _ Remus _ . Instead of bright reds, whites and golds, there were blacks, greens and silver details. Instead of Disney posters, the walls were decorated with horror posters and other- rather gruesome imagery. Roman averted his eyes in disgust, focussing instead of his brother, who was laying on top of his desk, head resting on his chair. Roman was surprised he hadn’t done anything else to… welcome him. It was a relief, though. He wasn't willing to deal with Remus' dumb jokes right now.

“Ah, Ro,” Remus grinned broadly as he saw his twin entering. “This is indeed an unparalleled  _ delight _ . To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Roman took a deep breath yet again, telling himself to just rip off the bandaid and blurt it out immediately. That way, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from saying what he was thinking, just because he started having second thoughts. 

“I wanna fuse,” he blurted out in a rush, giving himself no more time to think. “I wanna… become Mars again.”

Remus smirked. “Ah yes,” he said with a nostalgic nod. “Good ol’ Mars.”

Mars was the original Creativity. The one who came before the split. It had been so long since he had split up into Roman and Remus, but the memories were still clear as day to Roman. The memories he still had, that is. Of course, he didn’t remember everything. But the things he  _ did  _ remember, were as clear as if they were his own. 

“Now, what would make you want to say such a thing, huh?” Remus wondered as he set his feet on the floor, moving closer to his twin as he looked at him in interest. “Things been a little rough?"

Roman gritted his teeth as he glared as his brother. “That’s none of your business,” he hissed, not wanting to expose all of his insecurities to someone like  _ Remus _ . “I want to fuse, that’s all you need to know. Are you in or not?”

Remus remained silent for a second or two, tapping his chin in exaggeration. While he did not necessarily  _ miss _ being Mars, he certainly saw some… potential in this deal. There was something interesting about it. Having to share a mind and body with Roman — or however this shit would work — was not something he’d longed for, but there was that potential that might just… make it worth it. Just maybe. 

“Why the hell not?” he finally settled as he threw his hands up. “If it helps you sleep at night. And I mean it, cause I’ll have to deal with it as well.”

Roman nodded with a huff, but he didn’t speak a word. Just watched Remus closely, anticipating some weird dumbass Remus-move. But surprisingly, that weird dumbass Remus-move did not come. 

“So, how the hell do we do this, Twink-le Toes?” he asked, weirdly willing to just… do this. Just like that. It was almost enough to raise suspicion from Roman, but he didn’t care enough. He had made up his mind; he wanted to fuse. To stop being-  _ him _ . No matter how weird Remus was. After all, this was Remus. Remus was always weird. Weird was his normal.

“I don’t know,” the other twin shrugged. He hadn’t done this before either. He wasn’t even sure if this was possible. It just… felt like it was. It had to be. They weren’t real people bound to real world problems. If they could split up… surely they could fuse back together too, right? “Dance?”

Remus scoffed. “Your big game plan is based on Steven fucking Universe, isn’t it?” he questioned. “Should’ve seen that one coming.” He shook his head. “I’m not fucking dancing with you. Come here.”

He grabbed onto Roman’s wrist and pulled his twin closer. Roman closed his eyes and tried to focus as his chest bumped against Remus’. Trying to make sure this fusion would actually work out — and work out  _ well _ . 

Almost as soon as they bumped into each other, Roman felt something happening. Something that felt the way a bright, white glow would look and for a moment, he felt  _ nothing _ . There was nothing weighing him down, there was… nothing at all. And then, there was something again as the world started to reform around him. Except it wasn’t Roman who felt this, but rather Mars himself. 

The newly formed side looked down at his hands, reveling in the fact that it had actually  _ worked _ . In all honesty, he had doubted that it would work. Or technically- it wasn’t  _ him _ , but the sides that made him up who had their doubts. But here he was, as if he’d never been away. 

He was back in his trusty black and silver coat and blue sash. Now with the addition of a red paludamentum cape, fastened at his right shoulder with a brooch carrying his new logo; a black sword and red shield clashing, a rain of silver and gold sparking from the point of impact, looking like stars in the sky against the deep blue background. He looked absolutely stunning, if he did say so himself. 

Now all that was left, was introducing his new — or old — self to the rest of the group. Mars had to admit that he was curious to see how they would respond to seeing him back here. They would probably be skeptical about their fusing — especially Logan and Virgil. But he would show them that he was here and he was _ good _ ! He’d never felt better than now. 

So, confidently, the fusion-side strode into the common area in the mindscape, seeing Patton and Virgil there as they discussed something that they — or rather Thomas — had seen on tv the day before. As he walked in, both of the sides ceased their discussion and looked at the newcomer in confusion, something that just made him chuckle heartily. 

“Good morning, dad,” he smirked as he made his way towards the other side of the couch. “Miss me? You too, Anxiety- I mean- Virgil. Right? That’s what you go by these days, isn’t it?”

“Mars?” Patton asked hesitantly, squinting at the new side in the room. It had been years since he had seen the original Creativity, but he would recognize him anywhere. “Is that- how?”

“The one and only,” Mars grinned as he spread his arms widely, reveling in the attention he got from the two others. “Roman decided he’d had enough of... not being enough, so he fused back with Remus and voila.” He gestured at himself. “Enter me. Figuratively. Although literally doesn’t sound that bad if you kno-”

“Okay, that’s enough out of you,” Virgil interrupted quickly, before the other side could finish that thought. “What the hell do you mean they fused?”

“They fused,” Mars shrugged, giving Anxiety an offended look, hurt at being cut off like that. “It’s as I said. They fused. Formed me.”

“Like- Steven Universe?” Patton tilted his head as he frowned in confusion. Mars’ comment about Roman had been long forgotten. All Patton could think about was the fact that Mars had said that the twins had  _ fused _ . They could  _ do  _ that? I mean- clearly, since the result was sitting right in front of him, but he had no idea that this was possible. Until it happened, he hadn’t even known that sides could be  _ split _ , let alone get back together. 

“Exactly like Steven Universe,” Creativity nodded. “It was a gamble. Looks like it paid off, though. I’m back and better than ever.”

The lack of enthusiasm from the two other sides frustrated him. Patton most of all. He never interacted with Virgil much, since he was a dark side back when Mars still existed and he made sure to stay a mile away from the dark sides. But Patton… he  _ knew  _ Patton. And he knew Patton well! Why wasn’t he  _ happy _ ? Wasn’t he excited to see him again? 

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Virgil asked, looking at Mars cautiously. “We have no idea how this will affect you, or them, or Thomas. I’m not-”

“Yes, I’m  _ sure _ , Killjoy,” Mars huffed, the almost apathetic welcome starting to get to him now. “I mean, look at me. Do I  _ look  _ like I’m doing badly? Let me answer that for you: I  _ don’t _ . Because I’m doing fantastic! Better than I ever have.”

Okay, other than the fact that something in his brain as starting to feel like it was cracking, he was doing good. But surely, it was just his brain having to take some time to get used to the fact that the two sides that used to be Roman and Remus had now fused into one person. Right? That had to be it. If you left that detail out, he felt fantastic and he was just excited to be back here. 

Mars was oblivious to the fact that the two other sides exchanged a doubtful glance as he spoke. He was so excited about being back as himself that he didn’t think to pay attention to many other things. Other things could come later. Mars came first for now.

Not much later, Logan came in, his nose buried in a book. As he entered, he looked up for a second. His eyes hovered over Mars for a second, but then returned to his book. However, just as he did this, he seemed to realise what he’d seen and his eyes immediately snapped up to look at the new side again. His eyes narrowed as he studied Mars, who just sent him a smile as he waited for some kind of greeting. He doubted it would be enthusiastic, but he was still curious to see how Logan  _ would  _ respond. 

“Mars,” he observed, shutting the book with a loud slam. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Mars snickered, ignoring the weird buzzing in his brain. “But it’s good to see me, isn’t it?”

Logan gave him a calculating look, trying to determine if it really  _ was  _ good to see Mars. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what this was, why Mars was here and what the circumstances of this event were. He had no idea what was going on other than that he was looking in the eyes of a side he thought he’d seen the last of. 

“They fused,” Virgil filled him in. “Roman and Remus. They fused together and now… he’s here.”

The logical side hummed as he returned his attention to the fusion, a new kind of interest in his eyes. He understood the concept of fusing, quite regrettably, since Thomas watching Steven Universe meant that he knew and understood it as well. It was just intriguing to him that something like this… could actually happen. He had no idea that this was something they could do. This was- interesting information to him. 

“Really? So are you-”

Mars didn’t hear the rest of it. Something in their brain- no,  _ his _ . Something in his brain cracked, split apart. It made his head spin and their- his heart race. It made him dizzy and sick and it felt like th- like he was suffocating. 

“I need to go,” he managed to choke out as he pushed himself up. Their voice-  _ his voice _ , damn it. His voice cracked and instead of just a normal voice crack, he heard something else. His voice — Mars’ voice — overlapping with Roman’s. That couldn’t be good… could it?

The fusion ran out of the commons, his cape billowing behind him as he did so. The others called after them but he ignored that, making his way to Roman’s room; the first room he could find. 

Once Mars made it to the room, they slammed the door behind him, falling to their knees, breathing heavily as he did so. He squeezed their eyes shut, hands reaching for his hair, grabbing on tightly. His mind was spinning, both of the twin’s consciousnesses overlapping to the point where they didn’t know what was happening, who was thinking what. One thing he  _ did  _ know, was that this was not good by any means. He didn’t feel like  _ him _ , but rather like an amalgamation of the twins and made them nauseous when he considered this for too long.

“I think,” they breathed, Mars’ voice once again overlapping with Roman’s. “I think we need to call it here.”

“What do you mean?” Mars responded to himself, this time overlapping with Remus’ voice as he chuckled softly. “I think this is going just fine, don’t you?”

“What-” He —  _ Roman _ — cut himself off sharply. He felt himself slipping away, losing control. As if he was pushed to the back, away from the front seat, away from the controls. He shook his head — only he did; Mars didn’t follow — and tried to push himself back to the front, but something stopped him. No matter what he tried… it wouldn’t work. He couldn’t fight himself back to the controls. He saw everything Mars saw, knew everything Mars knew, but there was a dissonance between them. There was something blocking him, like a wall. Or- a window, rather. And it limited Roman’s input. “Remus…”

“Don’t worry, Roman,” Mars cackled, a sound that was nearly demonic with the way his voice overlapped with Remus’. “I’ll take real good care of us.” 

No matter how Roman tried to fight back, it seemed that there was no way for him to win this battle. He tried and tried but nothing seemed to work. The fusion they had created was cracking, but Remus managed to hold it together with his power, easily overruling Roman’s. There was no escape. 

Mars blinked a few times and regained their composure. Their brain was still spinning, but they were handling themself just fine. This all was  _ fine _ . They just needed to get used to this new situation. 

Then, there was a knock on the door and Mars whipped around, considering their next move. 

“Mars, kiddo?” Patton’s voice sounded on the other side of the door. “Are you okay? You looked real shaken up back there.”

Mars sighed and made their way towards the door. As much as they would like to, they couldn’t ignore Patton. With a perfectly created smile, they swung open the door, looking down at the moral trait. 

“Oh, I’m just fine, Gomez,” they grinned, Remus’ voice still audible over their own. “No need to worry about dear old me.”

Patton looked at the fusion, biting his lip in doubt and confusion. “Are you sure?” he asked gently. “I- I mean, it’s just, you don’t… sound… great? Right now?”

“I’m sure,” Mars nodded, doing everything in their power to maintain the beaming positivity that they usually possessed, smiling at the other side to reassure him. “This is only just a side-effect of the fusion. I still need to get- adjusted, to… existing like this. But I can assure you that there is no need to worry about me, dearest dad.”

They smirked broadly, feeling confident that they’d nailed this. But then, Roman found a window and fought himself back to the controls. 

“No,” he blurted out, his voice mixing with Mars’ once again. “It’s not… Remus-” 

He was cut off when he was once again pushed away, Remus taking over once more. 

“You know what? Forget that.” Remus’ voice came forwards again, as the fusion straightened their posture. “I appreciate the concern, Patton, but I am fine.”

Patton frowned, far from content with this answer. Especially after whatever that outburst had been. “But what was-”

“I am  _ fine _ ,” Mars interrupted harshly, their tone of voice a clear contrast to the kind smile they gave Patton. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would like some time alone. As it turns out, I need a bit more time to adjust.”

Morality opened his mouth, seemingly to protest or ask another question, but before he could do either of those things, Mars already shut the door and turned their back, walking further into the room. Clearly, they still had a few things to take care of.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: (unsympathetic) Remus, (sympathetic) Janus, some tension and arguing, I think that's it but let me know if I missed anything!

It had been a few days since the twins fused together and Thomas was blissfully unaware of the chaos that had erupted in his mind. It didn’t take long for the other sides to figure out that the fusion had been… less than ideal. Less than ideal for Roman, at least. It seemed that Remus — and with him, Mars — was more than content with their current predicament. No matter what they tried, the sides never managed to find a way to get the twins to split up again. However, despite their failures, Roman never stopped trying to fight back, and it showed.

Thomas was starting to notice something was up with his Creativity. He’d tried to come up with new video ideas and the list he’d come up with ranged from literally nothing to ‘Invite friends to read explicitly cute fanfic’ or ‘Go to PornHub and try to find the most wholesome content’ and other content that either did not make sense, or was something he did _not_ want to explore. It wasn’t the type of content Roman would come up with. Instead, it sounded more like Remus’ ideas, and that worried Thomas. 

Which is why the man found himself standing in the middle of his living room, trying to call out for his creative side in an attempt to ask him what was wrong. However, Roman did not show his face. Flashbacks of Virgil ducking out popped up in Thomas’ brain and he started to wonder if Roman had ducked out as well. The last video _had_ hurt him, and Thomas never had the chance to clear things up to his side yet, as he refused to hear him out on this. If only Roman was okay. 

As soon as it became clear that Roman wasn’t coming, Thomas sighed and called in the three other sides, who immediately came up to him. 

“Heya, Thomas!” Patton exclaimed cheerfully as he came in. “Been a while since _you_ called us, isn’t it? What’s going on?”

As a matter of response, Thomas simply gestured to the corner where he would usually find his creativity. “What’s going on?” he asked immediately, looking at all three of his sides. They exchanged a quick look, but Patton quickly answered.

“What are you talking about, kiddo?” he asked, clearly trying to reassure Thomas, maybe a bit too much. “Everything is a-okay!” 

Virgil sighed and grumbled something under his breath, looking at the ground as if there was something very interesting going on. Spoiler alert: there wasn’t. He just couldn’t meet Thomas’ eyes at the moment. 

Thomas shook his head. Even if Patton’s high-pitched voice hasn’t been a dead giveaway to the fact that something was up, Virgil’s response sure was. Logan didn’t seem to have much to add; he just stood there, being him. But Virgil was clearly not agreeing with the response that Patton had given, but at the same time, he didn’t want to answer himself. 

“That’s not true, Patton,” Thomas said, looking closely at his moral trait. “Where is Roman?” He paused for a moment, giving himself a chance to study the three present sides, hoping that he would be able to make any sense out of their attitude. “He’s been acting weird all week, he doesn’t respond when I call him and now this? What’s going on?”

As soon as he asked the question, a heavy silence fell. The three sides exchanged a few looks that they themselves understood, but that left Thomas confused. It was clear now that something was going on, but what? And why wasn’t he aware of this? 

He was reminded of the last time his sides refused to tell him something. Which, coincidentally also happened to be related to Roman. Or- Remus, technically. But that was still something related to Roman. Literally in this case. Could this be another situation like that? He didn’t know how, he didn’t know what it would be but something was happening and no one wanted to tell him. Even though they were literally a part of him. 

“What?” he asked cautiously, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence between the four of them. “What is it?”

Virgil sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to respond. Finally, he gave Thomas a doubtful look, before turning to his two fellow sides. “Maybe we should-”

“It’s complicated,” Patton blurted out, interrupting the other. As he gave Virgil an apologetic look he pressed his fingers together, before turning to Thomas with a sheepish smile. “You see, it’s…” 

He trailed off and looked at the two other sides, desperately asking for help. He didn’t want to drop this load on Thomas so quickly, but he couldn’t find a way to fill him in on the situation without worrying him too much. 

However, as it turned out, this wasn’t necessary. Because, just as Logan opened his mouth to explain the situation to Thomas, a certain fused-side popped up in Roman’s corner, a smug smirk on their face. 

“Are you really gonna have this talk without _me?_ ” Mars asked, their voice still split between Remus’ and a voice that had to be their own somehow. “I am _wounded_. I would at least have expected an invite.”

Thomas whipped around, studying the new side carefully. Now, he was certain this wasn’t someone he knew. This newcomer did remind him of his two creative sides, with the sash and the fancy outfit, but… who were they? Surely, he didn’t have a third creative side, right? That was a bit much, even for _him._

“And you are…?” he asked hesitantly, still looking at this side. 

“That would be Mars,” Logan responded briefly, nodding to the other. “He is your original Creativity. And as of now, the product of Roman and Remus fusing together.”

_Original_ Creativity? Roman and Remus _fusing?_ What was Logan saying here? Thomas blinked a few times, giving his Logic a confused look. “What? What do you-”

“In your past, there was a time that you only had one Creativity,” Logan explained, gesturing in the direction of Mars, who smirked at the attention they were getting. “Eventually, he split up into the part of Creativity you have accepted and the part you refuted, Roman and Remus as you are now aware. Recently, the two of them… decided to fuse together. Forming Mars again in the process. Now, there are… differences between the original Mars and this version, but there are also a number of similarities.”

Thomas frowned and looked at the side in question. _That_ was Mars? The side before Roman and Remus? When Logan said there were certain differences between the two versions of Mars, his mind immediately went to Mars’ voice. It was a horrifying mix between voices. Remus’ definitely stood out, mixed with a few characteristics he recognised as Roman’s voice, as well as a completely unknown voice. That couldn’t have been the original Mars’ voice, right? It was probably the result of the fusion, maybe it went wrong and that resulted in… this.

“Something has gone wrong, though,” Patton added carefully, causing Thomas to turn to him now. 

“ _Wrong?_ ” Mars huffed with a roll of their eyes. They seemed to be almost offended at the mere implication that something wasn’t like it was supposed to be. “Speak for yourself. I’ve never been better.”

“So you keep saying,” Virgil retorted with a hint of annoyance. “But it’s not _right_.”

“Of course it’s not, Worry McPhee. I’m left brain,” Mars said, looking so very pleased with the joke they made right there. Unfortunately, there was no one who even stopped to appreciate the comment, instead focusing on the discussion they were trying to have.

“He means… it’s not _good_ ,” Patton corrected. “And you know it’s not. It’s not an equal fusion. It’s not good for you. Either of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the fusion huffed. “I feel great. Never been better.” They lifted their arms, as if trying to make a statement about how great they felt exactly. The look in their eyes as they looked at the three other sides was unmistakably smug and Thomas couldn’t help but think there was something going on that he didn’t quite understand. But to be frank… he didn’t quite understand _anything_ about this. 

“But- wait… so Roman and Remus fused together,” he said slowly, trying to come to terms with all of this information, making a gesture to the side in front of the television. “That formed Mars… but that’s- it’s not… _right?_ ”

“Right,” Morality nodded. “Or- _not_ right.”

“How is it not right?” Thomas asked in confusion. 

“Well…” Patton looked down at his nails as he tried to answer this question. “You know Malachite, right? It’s kind of…”

“Remus has taken control of the fusion,” Virgil cut in, not being able to wait for Patton to get to the point. This situation stressed the hell out of him and he wanted to get to the core of the issue so they could split the twins up again and he wouldn't have to deal with Mars anymore. The fusion was basically Remus in a new outfit by now, and he didn’t want to deal with Remus. Not to mention that this could not be going well for Roman. “And he doesn’t let up, so we’re stuck with-” He cut himself off as he gestured in the fusion’s direction, who just smiled broadly.

Thomas nodded slowly, going over this all once more. The comparison to Malachite actually gave him something to hold on to, it gave him something concrete to draw comparisons to And now he finally got it… it would explain the weird ideas he’d been getting lately. It had been Remus taking control of everything he did rather than Roman, although he seemed to break through here and there in an attempt to fix whatever it was Remus tried to come up with. But it didn’t explain literally everything else. Thomas was still as confused as could be. This whole situation was… insane. 

The man took another look at Mars, who gave him an innocent smile and a little wave in return.

“So… what do we do?” he wondered out loud. 

“You do nothing,” Mars smirked confidently. “Because I’m awesome and you love me.”

Thomas frowned slightly, giving the other a doubtful glance. “I’m… not sure I do.”

Mars scoffed and crossed their arms, something about their body language changing as they spoke up, shoulders slumping ever so slightly. “Join the club,” they huffed, their voice this time overlapping with Roman’s more than Remus’. Thomas looked up in shock, meeting Mars’ eyes for a second. There was an unreadable expression in their eyes but in that moment, they were undoubtedly Roman’s. However, the moment was over almost as soon as it had begun, as Remus took over again with a huff. 

But at least, Roman was still in there. That was something. Right? 

It seemed like the others had noticed this as well — obviously; it wasn’t easily missed — since a silence fell over the group. It lasted for only a second, though, before Mars cleared their throat and regained their composure, trying to pretend that their facade hadn’t just cracked, even for just a moment.

“Now, if no one has anything else to say…” the fusion started, seeming as if they were about to sink out. 

“Oh no,” Virgil said with a shake of his head, determined to stop the side from leaving until they figured out this entire mess. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Mars looked up, meeting Virgil’s eyes with a smirk. “Oh?” they asked innocently. “I thought you didn’t want me around.”

“I _don’t,_ ” the other stressed, “but-”

“I’ve got to say, you’re giving off some mixed signals, Corpse Snide,” they commented with a pout. “You can be truthful with me.”

Virgil huffed, hiding his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “It’s not like you listen to me anyways.”

At this, Mars gasped in offense, putting a hand to their chest. “How _dare_ you?” they asked him. “I am-”

“I think that’s quite enough,” a smooth voice suddenly spoke behind Thomas. He whipped around to see none other than Janus standing next to Logan, one arm wrapped in front of his stomach, while he held up his other hand slightly, as if studying his glove. 

Where Virgil immediately tensed up when he laid eyes upon the other, Mars seemed to lighten up, grinning at the new side. 

“How nice of you to finally join us, Mister J," they greeted happily. If there was ever a sign that the fusion between the twins hadn’t gone well, this was it. Mars — the _real_ one — had never had much interaction with Janus and had never liked him. Nor did he know his name. Now, of course, there was the fact that both Roman and Remus had their own memories and experiences that Mars would now have too, but there was no way he would be so quick to come in with the nickname. There was no way he’d act like seeing an old friend. “Don’t you think I look dashing?” They raised their arms again in a grand gesture. 

“What I think, is that you need to stop, _Remus_ ,” Janus simply bit back. “This has gone on for far too long.”

Mars slowly dropped their arms to their sides, frowning. “I don’t think you know who you’re talking to,” they muttered, Remus’ voice now more prominent than ever. “I’m _Mars_ , silly.”

“You’re not.” There wasn’t a single hint of hesitation in Janus’ voice, locking eyes with Mars as they narrowed their eyes in a manner he knew all too well from the darker of the two twins.

No one else spoke up. Even Virgil decided to bite his tongue and let the two sides fight this battle. No one else wanted to get involved unless they absolutely had to, seemingly all deciding that if anyone was capable of putting an end to this, it would be Janus. He understood Remus more than anyone else.

Mars gritted their teeth as they looked at Janus. How could he just- if there anyone who should be on their side, it had to be _him_. The others opposing them, that was expected, but _Janus?_ He of all sides had to understand, right? Didn’t he understand how much Remus had hated feeling neglected? Like no one cared about his input? Didn’t he understand how much it hurt to have all your ideas shoved aside like they were garbage? He of all sides had to understand that, right? 

“You need to stop this, Remus,” Janus continued, never looking away from the fusion. “This isn’t good for you. For _either_ of you.”

Mars shook their head. “I’ve never felt-”

“Better. So I’ve heard,” the other side interrupted. “But you need to look at the big picture here, Remus. What you’re doing right now, is harmful. For you, for Roman, for _Thomas_.”

“No, no you’ve got this all wrong,” Mars protested, their voice cracking all over the place — the sound of it was purely demonic. Remus’ voice mixing with Mars’ and even Roman’s here and there. “I mean-” That was Roman. “ _No_.” Remus again. “No, this is _better_ , I’m finally-”

“I know how you feel about your situation, Remus, but this is not the way to deal with it,” Deceit inisted, staring at the fusion in the hopes of getting his point across. He knew that both Roman and Remus were stubborn, and their fusion was bound to be even more stubborn. But this was mostly Remus, and he _knew_ how to deal with Remus. He just needed to get through to him. “Be honest with yourself. How much effort does it take for you to keep up this fusion? How much of your energy is wasted trying to stay as you are?”

“It’s not-” Mars halted, gritted their teeth. The fact that Janus kept referring to them as 'Remus' was driving them mad, but he wouldn't stop it. They weren't _Remus_ , how difficult was that? They clenched their fist in frustration. It was clear that the fusion was slowly starting to fall apart. Whether it was due to Remus losing control, or Roman finding the power to take back some control, wasn’t clear. But Mars was starting to come undone. “It’s _fine_.”

“I don’t think it is.” Janus shifted his weight as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. The others had fallen silent completely, instead just choosing to watch the conversation unfold between the two sides. Janus seemed to know what he was doing, and they didn’t want to mess with that. Even Virgil chose to keep quiet. “I think you’re starting to fall apart. After all, it cannot be easy to be the only one holding a fusion together. Especially if you have to maintain control and push Roman away in the process. I can’t imagine how straining that must be on you, Remus. That can _not_ be healthy.”

“I’m fine,” Mars huffed, although his- their voice continued to crack. 

“It’s okay to let go, Remus.” It seemed that Janus wasn’t even fazed by the fusion’s interjection. “You can give up control. This isn’t good for either of you.”

“But you don’t _understand_ ,” the fusion spat, their voice cracking so bad it sounded more like glitching, almost like a tremble in his voice but demonic. “You don’t know how it feels to be-”

“How it feels to be what?” Janus interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the other. “To be ignored, not taken seriously? You forget that I _do_ know what that’s like. And lashing out is not the way of dealing with that. It’s not going to make anyone listen.”

He understood what Remus’ plan had been. He wanted to force the others to listen to him by taking over the role of the one and only Creativity. But if anything, this would only serve to antagonize him further. It would not make the others see the error of their ways, it would not make them listen to Remus. This was _not_ the way. He knew that by now.

“They will eventually,” Mars insisted. “They will see that-” They cut themselves off, closing their eyes. His- their head hurt. In a way not unlike the way it had hurt just after the fusion, when Remus had managed to take over control. But how could that happen? He was, no, _they were fine._ He could keep up this fusion for weeks to come. He had the strength, they could- 

“I don’t think they will,” Deceit said, his voice slightly softer than before as he saw the fusion starting to come apart. “You’re only antagonizing yourself.”

Next to him, Virgil scoffed with a slight grimace, clearly agreeing with his last point, to his own surprise. Virgil never would have thought he would actually agree with _Janus_ of all sides. But these were strange times. 

“I’m not- I am… you-” Mars ran his hands through their hair, fingers getting tangled up and pulling slightly. He squeezed their eyes shut and turned his head to the ground. This couldn’t be happening- he was… _no_. There was no way he would let this happen. He let out a soft groan, gritting their teeth as he tried to maintain his control but everything was spinning and their ears were ringing and his head was going to explode. 

Everyone remained silent, seemingly too afraid to even breathe, scared that they would do something wrong. Mars was falling apart and it was more than clear. Thomas had no idea what he was looking at and he didn’t even want to see it, but he couldn’t get himself to look away either. It was unsettling, but also intriguing and so new to him. 

Mars — Remus, whatever. Was there even a difference anymore? He clenched his fists around the locks of hair in his hand, enough to dig his nails into their hands and potentially draw blood. He wasn’t going to let this end like this but the longer it dragged on, the more difficult it became. They couldn’t- he wouldn’t- didn’t want to… _no_. He wouldn’t let them- let _Roman_ win, he couldn’t. Not again. Roman got all the wins, why couldn’t he get at least one? He didn’t care if it hurt everyone else, he was _not going to back down_. He didn’t want to. This was his chance but he- they- everything was falling apart and he hated it but he wouldn’t surrender. He wouldn’t ever. 

His control was slipping and they knew it. But he wasn’t giving up. Neither of them were but he was in control but- was he? He had to be, right? If he wasn’t, they would- he wouldn’t- 

Suddenly, there was a bright, white light filling the room. A second or two passed and when the light faded away, the two sides once again reappeared. Thomas wasn’t sure he’d ever been so relieved to see them — even _Remus._

Roman stumbled slightly and eventually fell to his knees, whereas Remus had no issue standing upright, just straightening his clothes a bit. It was clear that this situation had taken a toll on Roman — much more than his brother. Because while Remus looked drained and a little paler than usual, he looked fine otherwise. Roman looked like he was about to pass out. 

“Roman!” Thomas called out, reaching out for his creative side as he slowly got up. “Are you okay?”

The side in question groaned as he got up, reaching for his head. “Just peachy,” he murmured, “could use some rest, though.”

“I’m fine,” Remus muttered, a faint smirk playing at his lips. He was kind of pissed that his plan didn’t work out perfectly, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a kick out of this. Despite everything, it was rather clear who was the stronger out of the two, wasn’t it? For now… that would have to be his victory. “Thanks for asking.”

“Don’t even try Necronomicon,” Virgil hissed, glaring at the other side. “You just-”

“Virge,” Roman interrupted softly, giving Virgil a gentle yet pressing look. “It’s fine.”

“But-” Virgil protested as he shifted his gaze to Roman, who didn’t back up either. His eyes narrowed at Remus but he looked over at the other twin. He sighed and his eyes softened. “Fine.”

Roman managed a weak smile at this and turned away, side-eyeing his twin. ”If you don’t mind… I think I’m gonna go.”

“Of course,” Thomas said with a reassuring smile. It was clear that this whole fusion-thing hadn’t been easy on Roman. He deserved every bit of rest he could get. “It’s okay, Roman.”

The creative side nodded and sank out without saying another word. 

“I’ll check on him,” Virgil announced, still looking at the spot where the prince had stood not even a second ago. It was clear that he was worried about the other side, and he just wanted to be sure he was alright. He glared at Remus for a second and sank out himself, following Roman.

Once they were gone, the others turned to Remus, about ready to tear him apart. Remus on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice anything going on. And if he did, he didn’t let it show. 

“What are we looking at?” he asked, giving the others a teasing smirk. He definitely understood that they were pissed at him, but he just didn’t understand why. _They_ didn’t understand _him._ They didn’t know what he had to deal with, none of them. Goddamn light sides never needed to fight to be heard. They didn’t know what that was like.

“You had no right to do that, Remus,” Thomas spoke slowly, trying to find the words to convey what he wanted to say. He didn’t fully understand what was going on, even after this explanation. But what he _did_ understand, was that this fusion that had happened between then was a bad one. And it wasn’t to blame on Roman.

“It wasn’t my idea to fuse,” the creative side said in an attempt to defend himself. “He came to me first. I tried to stop him, but-”

“I don’t think you did,” Janus interrupted smoothly. 

Remus stopped, looking at the other side for a second or two. He really hoped Janus would have had his back. Janus was the only side he considered a friend around here. Maybe Virgil had been a friend once, but since he joined the light sides, there wasn’t much left of the side he had once called a friend. But Janus… Remus had hoped that he would understand. After all, wasn’t he the one who impersonated the other sides, lied to them and manipulated them to get a little bit of control? Why was that okay, when this was going too far? Was he losing Janus to the light sides as well? 

“Okay, maybe not, but it was _his_ idea.” Remus looked over to Janus stubbornly, waiting for the other side to give a confirmation that he was telling the truth — Janus was the only one who knew him well enough to make that call. Deceit gave a minute nod, easy to miss if you didn’t look correctly. Remus smirked. “He was desperate. Whatever you did to him, really beat him up.”

“And you took advantage of that,” Janus said, ignoring the sneaky jab at him. “How can you justify that?”

There was another silence. “It’s not my job to-”

“You should have known better.”

“Why would it be _my_ responsibility?” Remus protested. “If _he_ wants to fuse so badly, why should I-”

“He wasn’t in the right mind to make such a decision and you should have known.”

“He’s old enough to-”

“But you just saw an easy way to make your point, didn’t you?” Janus challenged, ignoring Remus’ interruption. “Roman came to you and you saw in this a way to push your way forwards and to force your presence on the others and on Thomas. You just thought about yourself and how to help yourself forwards. Don’t pretend that this is anything other than that, Remus.”

There was a silence for a second or two. Remus was clearly displeased by Janus’ analysis, likely because it was true. But on top of that, it was _so_ hypocritical and it pissed him off. Janus was pretending like _he_ had never tried to force his presence on the others by impersonating other sides. Great friend he was. 

“Right,” he huffed, rolling his eyes. “I see how it is. If you don’t want me here, I know enough. I’m out of here.”

Before anyone could even try to protest, the creative side sank down, but not before giving the others a glare. 

“I can’t believe him,” Janus sighed with a shake of his head, knowing that he’d have to talk to Remus after all of this was over. “I’m sorry about him.”

Thomas shook his head, still trying to wrap his head around all of this. “No, no, it’s… okay.”

“Are you okay, Thomas?” Logan asked carefully, noticing that Thomas was still kind of confused and not quite… _there._

“Yeah, don’t worry,” he said with another shake of his head. “It’s just… a lot.”

“Take a breather, kiddo,” Patton told him gently. “And maybe… don’t strain your creativity too much for a little bit. I think Roman took quite a beating.”

Thomas nodded, managing a small chuckle. “Yeah,” he nodded. “I will. Thank you guys. Really.”

The sides smiled and nodded, all three of them choosing to leave one by one. The issue had been resolved and Thomas needed to get some rest. All of this had been… confusing and exhausting, and his brain needed a break for now. One that he gladly took.


End file.
